Once computers at the new pharmacy electronically receive medication orders from UCSF physicians and pharmacists, the robotics pick, package, and dispense individual doses of pills.

Machines assemble doses onto a thin plastic ring that contains all the medications for a patient for a 12-hour period, which is bar-coded.

The pharmacy system, which was phased in over the past year, so far has prepared 350,000 doses of medication without error.

This fall, nurses at UCSF Medical centre will begin to use barcode readers to scan the medication at patients' bedsides, verifying it is the correct dosage for the patient. The automated system also compounds sterile preparations of chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy doses and fills IV syringes or bags with the medications.

Who could be replaced: Lawyers and paralegals

Here's why: Instead of paying an army of lawyers and paralegals to review documents, software can do the job in a fraction of the time for a fraction of the cost.

The New York Times reported that Blackstone Discovery of Palo Alto, CA provided software that helped analyse 1.5 million documents for less than $100,000.

'From a legal staffing viewpoint, it means that a lot of people who used to be allocated to conduct document review are no longer able to be billed out,

Here's why: Google announced last fall that it was working on automated cars as a way to increase safety and help humans reduce the time spent commuting to work.

With human supervisors in the passenger seat, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control.

'Our automated cars, manned by trained operators, just drove from our Mountain View campus to our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard,' said Google engineer Sebastian Thrun. 'They've driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe.'

Astronauts could be done-zo: Robonaut2 can handle missions in outer space that are too dangerous for humans.

Who could be replaced: Astronauts

Here's why: Through a partnership with General Motors, NASA's Robonaut2 is the latest example of android technology. Equipped with a wide array of sensors and dexterous five fingered hands, it will initially handle menial jobs such as cleaning the spacestation and assisting humans in space operations.

However, it could one day venture outside the station to help spacewalkers make repairs or perform scientific work, according to NASA.

Here's why: Companies are increasingly looking for ways to sell more products with fewer employees. ATM machines reduce the need for bank tellers, virtual assistants can answer the phone 24 hours a day, and self-service machines are reducing the need for checkout clerks.

Retail employment has barely budged over the last year despite stronger sales at major chains. Meanwhile, $740 billion was transacted through self-service machines in 2010, up 9% from 2009, reported the Los Angeles Times. That number is projected to rise to $1.1 trillion by 2014.

The army may no longer need to recruit soldiers: battle robots are the future of warfare.

Who could be replaced: Soldiers

Here's why: Although soldiers have yet to be replaced by an army of robots, we seem to be moving in that direction as drones and other machines are increasingly being used in reconnaissance and combat missions.

One example is the the MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System), made by Foster-Miller, which has provided armed robots in Iraq. According to Wired, the robot is equipped with a GPS monitor; it can be programmed to differentiate between fire and no-fire zones, to open doors, and even to drag out injured bodies.

A robot is so much cooler than a nanny: babysitting robots can recognise faces, tell jokes, and keep a kid from being lonely.

Who could be replaced: Babysitters

Here's why: If there's anything we've learned from Hollywood, it's that robots are not only deadly weapons, they are also great for entertainment.

Aeon Co., a major Japanese retailer, introduced a four-foot-tall yellow and white robot at a store in 2008 whose job is to babysit children while the adults shop.

Other models include the Hello Kitty robot, which is perfect for 'whoever does not have a lot time to stay with child,' according to a vendor and NEC's PaPeRo robot, which tells jokes, gives quizzes, and can track kids using a radio-frequency identification chip.

Rescuers may not need to risk their lives anymore: Active scope cameras and other robots can go where humans can't.

Who could be replaced: Rescuers

Here's why: Robots can reach areas that are inaccessible to humans and provide crucial help in rescuing victims from natural disasters. Scientists such as Satoshi Tadokoro of Tohoku University, based in Sendai, have offered the use of their robots to assist in the rescue efforts that are underway in Japan.

Tadokoro has offered the use of a snakelike robot that can enter tight spaces and use a camera to survey them, which could be helpful in collapsed buildings.

For now, the most useful robots could be aerial drones that can provide aerial inspections or ROV's, which can help locate underwater objects and determine the condition of bridges and pipelines, according to the centre for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue at Texas A&M University.

Don't worry, we're not safe either: Narrative Science can produce an online sports story from data within minutes.

Who could be replaced: Sportswriters and other reporters.

Here's why: Using software developed by Northwestern University, Narrative Science specialises in machine-generated stories. One of its customers, the Big 10 Network, which is partially owned by Fox Cable, says it uses the service for baseball and softball coverage because it's cheaper.

'It's considerably less expensive for us to go this route than for us to try to have our own beat reporters at each one of these games,' Michael Calderon, Big 10's director of new media, tells Bloomberg Businessweek. After a game, scorekeepers e-mail game data to Narrative Science, which feeds it into a computer and spits out a story in minutes.